‘Her heart was in this school’: Block of 17th Street renamed in honor of beloved crossing guard

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A block of 17th Street in front of the E.M. Stanton School has a new ceremonial name in memory of the school's beloved crossing guard.

Geraldine Graves stood at the corner of 17th and Christian streets for 12 years, helping students get to the E.M. Stanton School safely. At a ceremony Friday, the 900 block of South 17th Street was renamed "Geraldine Graves Way."

"Miss Gerri," as she was known, worked for the Internal Revenue Service for 34 years before becoming a crossing guard as a retirement job.

Graves, who died in 2021 at age 66, was fondly remembered by the Stanton community.

"Early in the morning she would greet the families walking past the school," her granddaughter Siani Washington told KYW Newsradio. "People driving past the school, they'd be like, 'Hey Miss Graves!’ ‘Hey, Miss Gerri!' early in the morning and the parents loved her."

In 2012 when Stanton was on the district's list to be permanently closed, Graves successfully led an effort to lobby the School Reform Commission to reconsider.

"She was a core member of our school community and the team, which really focused on keeping our school open," Stanton's longtime principal Stacey Burnley told KYW Newsradio. "Her heart was in this school. Her grandchildren were in this school. Her friends were in this school, and she treated it like a second home."

Burnley said Graves would have been humbled by a street near Stanton bearing her name.

"She would be speechless," Burnley said.

"I feel like she would have been definitely crying," Washington said.